Hill pledges progress after six-goal defeat at Rotherham

Bolton Wanderers will bloom, says Hill after Rotherham loss

KEITH Hill has warned there may still be pain for Wanderers in their rebuilding effort – but promised it will be worth the wait.

A 6-1 defeat at Rotherham United in his first league game was hardly the ideal start, yet the new Bolton boss asked supporters to see a bigger picture after the final whistle.

A travelling army of 2,600 fans were sent into raptures by Thibauld Verlinden’s fourth-minute strike to give Hill’s side an early lead at the New York Stadium, but a strong Millers side flexed their muscles thereafter.

Six debuts were handed out but late injuries to Harry Brockbank, Will Buckley, Daryl Murphy and Chris O’Grady left Wanderers having to make to and mend once again.

“I am not defeated by a long chalk,” Hill told The Bolton News. “I am proud, there’s no embarrassment.

“There were avoidable mistakes out there which we have to improve on but I said the goalkeeper ‘don’t be embarrassed at this moment in time because it will turn’. We have to keep with that mantra of development and progress. If we change, that’s when we’ll suffer.

“There will be more pain, no question. The football club has been mended now but there will be pain on the playing side because that’s what we have to fix now. Supporters have to support us through that, because when they do, they’ll see some beautiful roses start blooming on that pitch.”

Hill says he will stick to his principles – which produced early dividends with Verlinden’s superb early strike.

“That moment when we scored the goal, the players have got to tap into that,” he said.

“It was euphoric. We need to use it. The embrace, the feeling, it was born out of hard work on the training pitch and trying to do things the right way.

“If you get them wrong, that will happen, it’s still the right way for the future.

“If the plan changes and we start getting angry and upset with the players then we might start losing games the wrong way.

“I saw traits of the way I want to play and a winning attitude because they never gave up.

“They weren’t playing in units because they were mentally tired but it was a great lesson to us all.”

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